Just finished installing my front UCA offset bushings from origin. They call for 50 ft/lbs of torque on the UCA bolts but anything above 21’ish I get serious binding in the arms movement. It takes excessive force with both hands to move the arm. Under 21 ft/lbs and it moves fine.

I found another thread where others had the same issue but there wasn’t much of a consensus on a resolution.

Leave it at 21 and locktite the bolts?
Double nut the bolt?

 

The torque for those UCA bolts is like 76LB-FT from the factory.

No, you won't be fine at 20LB and loctite lol.

A large function of the bolts is to provide enough tension to prevent the frame tabs from flexing and breaking/cracking under load. To provide that tension, the bolts HAVE to be torqued to Honda's spec. Tension comes from torque.

Make 200% sure that you have the bushing sleeves/washers properly oriented. If the bushings specify grease, make sure its there.

Tighten the bolts to the factory Honda spec (76LB-FT).



More info:
The factory bushings do not rotate. They are fixed in place once you tighten the bolts. That is why you always tighten non-floating bushings at current ride height. Never ever when the wheels are drooping. If you change ride height...you should re-set the bushing clocking for all the bushings in all the control arms.

The origin bushings are meant to float/rotate around their metal sleeve. Meaning that the metal sleeve is clamped in place via your bolts. The plastic will pivot around the metal sleeve as the suspension moves up and down. The resistance you're feeling is the plastic binding on the metal. This is somewhat normal...and the force of the car/suspension should overcome it.

Since that metal sleeve is clamped...it should be slightly longer than the bushing itself.

So...torquing it to 50LB will stop the sleeve from spinning and will clamp it fixed.

After the sleeve is fully clamped...torquing it further will not make a difference in how much bind you get. You would have to actually compress the steel sleeve to start clamping the plastic.

**as long as everything is properly installed.

Again. You really want to torque to factory spec to prevent breaking the frame tabs off.

TLDR? Make sure the Origin bushing components are properly oriented and greased. Tighten the UCA bolts to 76LB-FT.

 

The bushings are 100% installed correctly. Origin recommends 50 ft/lb. Seems like a common issue from what I can find on the forums. I am wondering if the variable is everyone’s perception of “binding”. This is my first foray into suspension work so I am naive to what is and is not normal. Short of any resolution here or the Facebook group I will probably let my alignment guy deal with it.

 

Thanks for the input. I am confused on your comment about the bushing rotating. The metal sleeve should rotate around the bolt, yes? The bushing itself can’t rotate or the camber would change. Also, the kit comes with set screws to install in the UCA to specifically prevent the bushing from rotating once installed.

I am hoping that what I perceive as binding is normal operation for these types of bushings.

 

The bushing is fixed to the UCA.
The metal sleeve is fixed to the frame (via clamping).

The UCA and bushing pivot around the sleeve as a unit.

The sleeve should never rotate around the bolt. If it did...it would wear thru the metal on your frame pretty quickly.